Monday, October 30, 2006

A New Leaf

The Saturday sessions at the Texas Book Festival were fabulous. It was difficult to decide which session to attend, but I made myself focus on non-fiction writerly panels. I hoped for, and got, a kick-in-the-butt about being serious about being a writer.

I feel like I’ve lived my last two years as a housewife. I enjoy it immensely, but it was getting me nowhere on the writing path. So now I am officially living my life as a writer!

Some of the implications of that are:

Most writers are poor and have to take “day jobs” to pay the bills. Therefore, I welcome contract work, where I’m actually getting paid to write. And I must reduce my spending to cover for the times I am doing creative writing.

I must treat my writing (paid or not) as my job. That means dedicating most of each weekday to it, not to cleaning, doing laundry, running errands, doing lunch (or at least limiting it to something like once every week or two).

I will spend that time:

Doing morning pages every day

Posting to this blog almost every day

Reading about writing

Keeping files and a notebook for ideas and actions

Reading examples of travel writing

Researching publications and submitting!!!

Taking a walk when I feel drowsy…good for me, good for the dogs

Joining Texas Writers League and attending meetings

Joining a writers group…I met a person at the book festival who facilitates writers groups and I will follow up with him

Retreating to Julie A’s lake house when invited

And I thank my friends and family who will help me prioritize and focus.